Survey shows how much Americans love telecommuting

Posted February 14, 2012 - 11:37
by
Mike Luttrell

If you could work from home, would you? And do you think you could be more productive?

If you answered yes to both of those questions, you're in the majority of the American workforce today. A company called Teamviewer, which provides telecommuting resources like online chat and meeting software, conducted a survey that found, perhaps unsurprisingly, most people (62%) would like the opportunity to work from home.

Even those who preferred an office setting accepted that telecommuting is on the rise. Only 17% of those surveyed did not believe a work-from-home dynamic was growing in the US.

There was a recent TV ad campaign for H&R Block that showed company representatives going around door-to-door and christening every house as its own office. That is becoming the increasing trend for homes around the country and around the world.

That is becoming the norm for all sorts of industries. The question most people grapple with is accountability - will employees be as productive if they're lounging around in their pyjamas? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. 54% of those surveyed said if they worked from home, they would be able to be as productive or even more productive.

In fact, it's such an appealing idea that 34% of those wanting to telecommute would be willing to sacrifice social media, 30% would sacrifice texting, and 29% would not mind giving up chocolate. Among the more interesting stats - 17% would be willing to pass up a raise in order to work from home, and 12% said they'd be willing to skip daily showers.

"While the results of this survey may seem amusing, these findings show that telecommuting will be a force to be reckoned with in the future," said Teamviewer general manager Holger Felgner.